It is known that endotoxin which is an outer membrane component of various Gram negative bacilli has various biological activities, such as enhancement of immune function. The main active portion of the endotoxin resides in a disaccharide moiety referred to as lipid A. Various lipid A derivatives have been studied and reported to have biological activities similar to natural lipid A. However, many such compounds are purified from natural sources which can lead to problems with consistency and purity of these compounds. Much research has centered on providing pure or essentially pure forms of such compounds.